Steelers

Steelers Talk NFL Draft

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PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) — Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert saying with the 17th overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday, “We don’t envision anyone coming in and having an impact in year one. We never do.”

Although Colbert, who held a joint news conference with head coach Mike Tomlin on Monday added, “You have to have production from rounds one, two and three and when you don’t, you have a hole. That will be the expectation for whomever we end up with.”

Colbert says they don’t envision movement from their draft slot in the first round.

“What comes to us at 17, who knows,” he said. “I doubt that we move up, I think the more picks that we have the better, in this draft particularly. There will be a good player at 17, there is no question about that.”

Colbert won’t talk about individual players in the draft and said there is a chance they could add a free agent or two depending on how this weekend’s draft plays out.

“Every draft has been the same,” Colbert said about an added importance to this draft due to the high player turnover. “We probably did have a few more departures than usual, but we still have only eight picks. We go in with the expectations, as we do every year, that these will be good picks and good players. I don’t see any players coming in and being immediate impact players.”

The Steelers general manager also said they would rather not rush the draftees.

“If we lined up today with what we have, we’d have a chance,” Colbert said. “Now we want to continue to add to that and let these players develop at their own pace. We’ve had great players that had to sit and learn and quite honestly I expect this group (of drafted players) to be like that. If they exceed that, it’s a bonus for us.”

The team had no update on tight end Heath Miller’s status following an off-season knee surgery.

Colbert said they wouldn’t close the door on bringing back and free agents from last year’s team including Max Starks and Casey Hampton.

When asked if they could sign receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a long-term deal, Colbert said “Maybe, he’s very positive and up-beat about being here and wanted to be here and that’s very good.”